A Lost Friend a Code: Ascension tag
by Lost Lantean
Summary: But the words inscribed into the blade came to life just once, Cat's voice telling Michelle to live. Telling her that it was the only way to properly remember the friend who's life she had to end.


**Cowman of Mold:** Thank you for the reviews you've sent my way. Oh and Calo anor na ven.

Once again this is set in CommandoWolf's Ascension AU and uses her character. This isn't associated with her story in any way but is my take on how she ended up having to kill one of her long time friends.

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Commander Michelle A. Fell looked out into the darkness as her bomber drowned along. In the blackness ahead the target wasn't visible. Neither was the bleak and charred landscape that lie thousands of feet below. The light ticking of a Geiger counter let the bomber crew know that they were approaching a fallout cloud. The remnant XANA's initial nuclear strike, they played havoc with attempts to evacuate civilians and position forces. Worse was the loss of farmland, though the greatly diminished population made that a worry best left to the future for now.

In the second seat, one of Michelle's best friends sat somewhat comfortably but clearly bothered. Of course that was to be expected as she wore a set of goggles that displayed images from the planes infrared camera. She could see the burnt stumps of trees and hollow shells of buildings. She could also see the pinpricks of coded laser light that would designate their targets. Turning towards Michelle she asked, "you ever consider how lucky we are to be up here?" She directed the camera away from a too clear image of one of the small squads that were moving on the ground then took off the goggles.

"Lucky?" Michelle asked. "I'm bored out of my skull." She looked around, "This was supposed to be fun, blowing up targets from the air. A giant videogame." The sour taste of the words made her frown. "Not that..."

"Target's coming up." Michelle's friend interrupted. Sparing a smile as she looked towards the left seat one last time, "I know you don't see the people that way, just the tactics." With that she put on the goggles, toggled off the auto-pilot and barked commands into the intercom for the bomber's crew to ready their payload.

Michelle took manual control of the old, four engine turboprop bomber. The jet driven propellers seemed more resistant to XANA's smoke and the hydraulic controls with almost no computer components made the craft much more difficult for XANA to take over. Or to hide a program in for later use. But it made the craft much more difficult to maneuver, not that a heavy bomber was going to dodge much of anything. Thumbing the radio Michelle called to the escorts, "look sharp, target in 10."

Two acknowledgements got through before the links flared into static. Both Michelle and her co-pilot looked over at each other, knowing the mission had really started. Flashes of light lit the night sky as bursts of electric blue plasma launched into the sky. Heat blooms on the thermal cameras signaled missile launches and sure enough the warning tones began to shriek. The plane reverberated with a loud clunking noise as a decoy was launched. Michelle sighed in relief as the missiles changed course to intercept the gliding flare. The plane rocked as the shockwave from the missiles hit it.

Outside tracer fire crisscrossed the sky as the fearless escort pilots fought to protect the planes. Using lasers, the relatively stable bombers were able to maintain reliable communications. The fighter pilots had no such luck and were dependent on frequency hopping and high power transmission over relatively short distances to keep communications flowing. Frantic calls for assistance could be heard punctuated with static as XANA fought to render radios inoperative. From inside their bomber all Michelle could do was watch and listen.

"Whisky Romeo 12... Got ma... on... tail... need." The blast of static was accompanied with a blinding bloom of light. No one in the air had any question what happened to Warrior Raptor 12.

The aircraft beside her bucked as the pilot jerked the stick back, rapidly climbing before banking to the left in hopes of avoiding two craft that suddenly dove into the formation. "Whisky Romeo you are too close to our formation, lead them away from us." The order was barked out by the obviously panicked captain of the bomber that had just suffered the near miss.

Horror smeared the face of the crew's bombardier an instant before he cried out, "19 look out, bandit 8 o'clock low." He watched transfixed as a damaged manta pushed its last bit of energy to its engines and surged forward to clip a nearby bombers wing before falling from the sky. One raptor pilot gave chase then pulled back as a voice over the radio called out for assistance.

The bullet-proof window sizzled and bubbled on the outside as a series of laser blasts scored hits. The heat hazed the plastic and glass composite, protecting the pilots eyes from scattered light intense enough to permanently blind them. An instant later tracer fire flashed outside the window and the radar display went to static as the loud, rapid series of pings that signaled bullets hitting the airframe echoed throughout the plane. With a loud series of curses Michelle let the pilot know of the friendly fire. Her co-pilot grimaced as she helped control the airplane.

"30 seconds to target." The bombardier called out. He donned his visor and saw the pinpricks of light being projected by special forces on the ground to guide the bombs in. Hoping that the hardened bomb guidance computers were up to the task of resisting XANA he counted off the remaining time, adjusted the corrections and let the payload go. The fight in the air diminished as XANA concentrated on diverting the bombs.

Believing the battle to be over, the bombers and fighters regrouped and began celebrating their victory over the radios. XANA was apparently having to divert its full attention to the effort to stop the bombs. Calls for calm and radio silence were headed but too late. The lead bomber changed course erratically then dove for the ground. Hails to the crew went unnoticed. An observant radar operator on the second to last bomber was able to bark out a warning about an AWACS before being reduced to a gurgling attempt at a scream. That bomber abruptly turned into its neighbor, backlighting the formation with a splash of red light.

Fighters nosed up and applied power to climb and attack the new threat. Cat, the co-pilot, looked over to Michelle when she heard the sound of a muffled scream behind them. Engaging the autopilot she pulled out her standard issue sidearm and nodded as Cat did the same. The bombardier walked forward with a calm expression and open hands. But when he failed to answer the challenge question as per protocol both pilots opened fire. With an expression of joy XANA's presence left the man to face his friends shooting him. The cloud of black smoke swirled once then lunged into Cat, the women screaming and cursing as she convulsed under the assault. Michelle looked grimly at her struggling friend and headed for a service panel.

A high voltage charge from the overpowered radar system's feed would do the trick, if she could get to it. The possessed friend lunged at Michelle before she could get to the hatch, slamming her to the deck. It thrust its hands at Michelle's throat but she lashed out with a kick and was able to force her possessed friend away. She fired the few rounds left in the clip at the XANAified human who simply shrugged off the bullets while advancing slowly. Tossing the empty weapon away, Michelle scrambled backwards in a desperate bid to get away.

Meanwhile the escort fighters of the Warrior Raptor squadron found that the AWACS craft had its own robotic escorts but no specter craft. Unfortunately, the disadvantage of needing to climb to meet the enemy would help make up for the lack of XANA's super nibble and powerful craft. They engaged the robot hornets and mantas, unaware of the life or death struggle in one particular bomber. Two pilots managed to get close to the AWACS plane and raked it with fire. As they turned to take a second pass the window hazed over and the smell of burning plastic filled the cockpit of WR6. He dove away from the hornet and it collided with his wingman while two more turned to engage.

Michelle considered her end as the XANAified Cat lunged forward and punched her in the stomach, forcing all the air from her lungs. With an expression of smug superiority and a vicious smile the specter pulled back its arm in preparation of another strike on the gasping woman.

Michelle winced then noticed the burning sensation as the form of Cat flickered and phased, face contorted into agony. Taking the opportunity Michelle scrambled away and headed to the avionics service bay. The specter hissed in anger as it retook full control of Cat's body and chased after its target. When it reached the bay it found Michelle trying to carefully pry away a high voltage cable with her knife. Reaching out, it succeeded in grabbing a wrist and with a sudden jerk broke the bone causing Michelle to scream in pain as the knife left her hands and the cable popped out of its socket.

Michelle dropped and twisted out of the way of Cat's next blow then grabbed the sparking cable and jammed it into Cat's body. The specter crackled and black smoke leaked from Cat's body as her muscles spasmed under the assault of the electric current and XANA's struggle for control.

Cat struggled through clenched teeth, "Stop... this... please."

Michelle frowned, reluctant to actually release her friend. Though it was obvious how much pain she was in, releasing Cat would only allow XANA to take control again and destroy another bomber or two. The thought of killing her came to mind and it instantly made her sick to her stomach, not that watching the woman writhe in pain was any better.

"XANA... is..."

Michelle leaned forward to hear her convulsing friend better. The smell of burnt flesh was hard on her nose and stomach. The sight of her friend enduring the torture that XANA could prevent induced emotional pain probably equivalent to what her friend was feeling physically.

"won't... release..." Cat wheezed before trying to finish her sentence. "Can't... possess... another."

Understanding what needed to be done here, Michelle tossed the cable aside and felt a hard jolt tear through her body as the electricity traveled through her for the split second it took the breaker to kill the flow of current. XANAified Cat lunged weakly and Michelle grabbed the knife off of Cat's belt and stabbed her friend in the back with it as she was driven into the wall. Despite the struggle, Michelle felt the knife penetrate every inch of her friend's skin. Felt the warm blood pour from the wound as the body went limp in her arms. XANA's specter dissipated into a cloud of clearing black smoke.

In her arms Michelle cradled her dying friend. She was now hyperaware and felt every agonizing push of her friends chest as she breathed her last breaths. She heard the wheeze and gasp of pain. Felt the life carrying blood drain away over the hand that still held the knife in her back. Could smell the singed fabric and flesh as she tried to soothe the friend she killed with words of comfort. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks as Cat managed to push out of the hug enough to look into Michelle's eyes.

"Thank you." She rasped out as the last of her life left and the once beautiful eyes slowly faded until they were cold and dark. When Michelle finally pulled herself out of the service bay she was shaking and felt cold all over. The blood on her uniform was a sickening, sticky mess. The blade in her hands a terrible weight and shining reminder of what she had done. The once perfect gift was now tainted forever. But the words inscribed into the blade came to life just once, Cat's voice telling Michelle to live. Telling her that it was the only way to properly remember the friend who's life she had to end.

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AWACS stands for Airborne Warning and Control System. It's basically a Boeing 707 with a radar dish built on top of it to provide friendly aircraft with advance warning of threats and to help coordinate air battles.


End file.
